Since SFI has been around for many years, is the playing field fair for someone who have just started in SFI like me?

Yes, SFI playing field is one of the fairest.

No, SFI is just at the inception of its potential growth. Although it has now 15 years of existence, it is only starting to scratch the surface of its potential, which is enormous.

Yes, this is the best time to start building an SFI Business for years to come.
SFI Corporate mentioned this in the Newsletter published early January 2014. 2013 was a year of unprecedented growth. That pace of growth is likely to continue.

All hard working affiliates are equally well positioned to reap the tremendous benefits of promoting an SFI business.

Actually, we are in a better position today than the earlier Affiliates. We have tools they did not have. We have a global market. They did not. We have a speed and efficiency of communications that did not exist before. We are building on their success while they started from scratch.

At the same time, you would also be building your residual income (for retirement so to speak). A successful SFI Affiliate who retires would be able to maintain their income level. This is not possible for an employee in any brick and mortar business and in any country. Today people are retiring nearly empty handed.

Another interesting fact is the rate of penetration of the internet in all these countries, which is extremely high. Worldwide, internet access is making leaps and bounds, opening new areas of recruiting for us.

It is clear that in 1998, marketing reach and methods used by SFI Affiliates at that time could hardly go beyond North America. Today, we reach every corner of the globe and growing.

When we combine all these factors, it is clear that we have today a much greater opportunity that the early SFI Affiliates had.

Then, I would encourage you and every other Affiliate who joined recently, to see SFI as a real potential for building a sound and strong business for the future of many years to come.

What is the best and least expensive way to build a personal SFI Website?

The least expensive is NOT the "best" way to build your personal SFI Website in my opinion. However, let's cover the "least expensive" and then what I would consider the "best" way to build a personal SFI Website. 

The least expensive way to establish a professional presence on the internet is to use one of the FREE blog services like: 

WordPress.com (notice that the .com extension is used for the HOSTED version of WordPress) 
Blogger.com 
Tumblr.com 

All three of the recommended services have excellent systems in place and will allow you to get up and running quickly in a professional manner. As a matter of fact, SFI uses WordPress.com for it's Official News Blog (news.sfimg.com) so that's an impressive testimonial all by itself. 

I would consider the "best" way to build your personal SFI Website to be with the FREE self-hosted version of WordPress. 

WordPress.org (notice that the .org extension is used for the SELF-HOSTED version of WordPress) 

Unlike the above "least expensive" recommendation my "best" recommendation would require: 

1) The purchase of a domain name (annual cost). 

2) The purchase of a hosting service (monthly cost). 

3) Optionally the purchase of a professionally programed "theme" for your WordPress site (one-time cost). A theme that uses "child" themes is a BIG plus. I strongly recommend a theme that has been optimized for SEO and is responsive to ALL devices that may access your site (Responsive Design is IMPORTANT). Also, I can't stress enough how SEO friendly a WordPress site can be with the right theme. I regularly see pages indexed by Google in just minutes after being published. Impressive! 

4) Optionally the purchase of professionally programed "plug-ins" to add value-adding features to your WordPress site (one-time cost per plug-in). 

I would also like to stress that there are tens of thousands of FREE plug-ins and themes for the self-installed version of WordPress. However, I've found that the professionally programmed/supported plug-ins and themes have a better pay-back in results. 

If you go with the "best" recommendation then you have total control over all aspects of your site like setting up a forum, taking surveys or setting up highly customized forms just to name a few. You can add all the features you want! You have total control! 

Remember to use the 80/20 rule and do not over complicate your site. Stay focused with one central theme per website. Use a/b split testing to improve your site. Focus on benefits! 

BONUS RECOMMENDATION: Use three separate services, if possible, for your domain name, email service and website hosting. You want to avoid having a single point of failure. It just makes business sense! 

by: Leon McKee

What are the benefits of organizing a contest for your downline?

A contest has many benefits. 

First of all you are giving your affiliates Motivation to do something and at the same time they get rewarded if they win. 

You can give rewards for many Accomplishments. 
To name a few: 

. Reaching the 1500 VP mark and becoming EA 
. Becoming EA2 
. Becoming Team Leader 
. Earning the Fast Track Bonus 
. Being the most Productive member on the Team 
. For referring their first ECA 

and many more to think of. 

The second benefit is you give them rewards which your affiliates can use in their business. 

To name several: 

. Reward them with T-Credits which they can use at TripleClicks for buying products, bidding on Auctions and also to reward their own affiliates by transferring credits to downline. 
. Reward them with a gift certificate which again they can use at TripleClicks for buying products. You will get the VP benefits on the products they buy and the Executive Pool points when your are EA2 or above. 
. Reward them by giving a free S-Builders Coop share so they will benefit with affiliates each month and you'll benefit too. You can offer to pay for half of a Coop share, your affiliate gets the VP each month. 
. Reward them by signing over one or several PSA's into their downline. Again, active affliates benefit you in many ways. 
. Set up your own Coop and offer to enter the winner for free for one or several months in your Coop. 

There are many more ways to reward the winners. Look thru your 'to-do-list' for ideas. 

The third benefit is that your affiliates will look up to you as their leader and it will teach them how to deal with their own downline and at the same time giving you more VP and income. 
Make certain you check if the winner has used their price and remind them if they didn't. 

You can organize several contests at the same time in your Leadership page. 

The main reason is to keep your affiliates Active and Interested in this great thing we call SFI and TripleClicks. 

Your affiliates will trust you and hopefully will follow in your steps!